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Aine An Brannagh
Appearance Aine is a good-looking woman, a fact she is not above using to her advantage. Her hair is a long, mid-back mane of sun-lightened blond, framing a heart-shaped face that's usually plastered with a grin or devious look. Though a smaller woman, healed scars and a definite musculature betray the fact that this is a woman who's been through many scrapes and lived to tell the tale. If her grin doesn't alert a room to her presence, her voice will: she's a loud, boisterous woman who is always willing to share a story loudly over a pint or challenge a drunken Lowlander to a brawl. Personality Due to her Avvar roots, Aine has a somewhat unique perspective regarding the factions and people of Thedas. The Avvar familiarity with magic and resentment towards past Orlesian Chantry interference makes her less than friendly to those who would try to proselytize to her, and confused at the commotion over having mages walk free. That said, she is perfectly happy to demonstrate how a possessed mage is dealt with in the Frostbacks. (Hint: it involves a lack of heads.) Her background also gives her a feeling of superiority towards Fereldans, Orlesians, and anyone not from the Frostbacks. She's a daughter of the Avvar, and more than happy to boast about the fact to anyone within earshot, with a near-constant cheerful demeanor offset only by her bluntness and pride- but after all, she's an Hillswoman. What is there -not- to lord over everyone else? Though not a bard, Aine is also not a charity worker: fame, fortune and gold are the name of the game, and any venture wishing to receive her help will have to promise at least one. That said, she'd never work under someone else as a mercenary, or take on a particularly unsavory job. Her goal is to reestablish the Avvar in the minds and history of Thedas, and giving someone else the credit- or being seen as a complete arse- are hardly appealing options. That said, the Avvar are known not only for their fighting prowess, but their loyalty. If a person proves their strength and worth to her, they just may have a wing woman for life. Till then, don't expect the smile to mean you're any more than an acquaintance or employer. Biography Though the women of the Avvar are often the equals or more of their men, young Aine made it a point to make herself stand out in the crowd. She found and basked in attention wherever she could find it, whether it took a wink or a bar brawl (and preferably the latter). Her size perhaps made her smaller than many of the warriors of her clan, but Aine learned over time to instead develop her skills in dodging punches and making her own count against any enemy or challenger that came her way. By the time she reached adulthood, she had earned a reputation as a notorious Duelist- appropriate, given her personal admiration of the trickster god Imhar. Such a reputation attracted a number of admirers, then, and in the tradition of the Avvar suitors were sent from both her clan and others, intent on infiltrating the city and carrying Aine away to prove their worth. Most men were thwarted at the hands of Aine herself, a grin across her face- until Aodhan, a warrior of Clan Frosthold, managed to best not only the men of Clan Stormhold, but Aine herself. Impressed and beaten, she followed him to his Clan, and the two were married. However, nothing in the life of the Avvar is permanent, and marriage reflects this. A union is based on the amount of ropes that a groom undoes in a rope. Aodhan managed six- impressive for a warrior, but hardly an eternity. At the end of the six years, Aine was still as she had ever been: brash, bold... and still in love with Aodhan. As new suitors came, this fact made her disinclined to accept their offers; even more so when she realized none of them were a challenge for her. Soon, Aine had a reputation of a different sort: as an Avvar woman disobedient to both gods and clan, and rumors circled frequently about her being forced to marry or exiled. Neither of these options appealed to Aine. She believed that the gods respected and rewarded strength and cunning alone. If a man could not best her one on one, what kind of match was he? After much thought, she left Frosthold in the night to seek out her old clan- specifically, her brother Ruadh. Her brother was one of the shamans of the Avvar- mages trained not in the ways of the Circle, but instead to let spirits and other Fade denizens speak and act freely through them as avatars and messengers of the gods themselves. At his sister's begging, Ruadh appealed to the gods, and something spoke through him- though an Andrastian templar might have issues with exactly whom. Aine, however, did not- especially when the voice coming from Ruadh alleged to be a messenger of Imhar himself. The voice bade her leave the Avvars to restore their name in Thedas to its former glory. No longer would the Hillsmen be a side note forgotten in the eyes and minds of the lesser Lowlanders, for Aine would use the skill and ingenuity gifted to her by Imhar to prove their worth. In return for the gods' help, she need only leave her clan... and swear to use only the weapons the gods had given her. That night, Aine gave up her daggers, leaving one with her brother and one on her belt as a reminder of her oath, never to be used in battle again. Wanting to avoid both Ferelden and Orlais, she found herself in Kirkwall, where she has slowly but surely been making a name for herself in Lowtown and the Undercity as an information broker and woman who can get a job done, whether it be drinking or bashing a man's head in. Timeline Relationships Category:Character Index Category:Original Characters Category:Barbarians Category:Fereldans